JP7065850B2 - Variable voltage generator circuits, systems, and methods - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the field of high voltage, high speed variable DC voltage sources. In particular, although not exclusive, the present invention relates to the field of providing a device with a high speed dynamic high voltage DC control voltage with little energy consumption or without energy consumption, with a capacitive load.

International Application No. 2016603241A1 is an ultrafast variable power capacitor that can be used to provide highly dynamic RF power supplies, for example, which may be required for plasma chambers used for plasma etching or vapor deposition. Will be described. The variable power capacitor has a normal dielectric dielectric material having a variable dielectric constant that can be varied by applying a large electric field or a large DC voltage to the entire dielectric material. Control electrodes are provided for this purpose. By varying the voltage at the control electrode, it is possible to accurately change the capacitance of the variable capacitor at ultra-high speed. This in turn allows for very sensitive impedance matching of the radio frequency (RF) power supply to the plasma processing chamber, and then the control and functional resolution of the plasma processing (eg etching or deposition processing). Improve.

In realizing the advantages of high-speed variable power capacitors, the applied DC voltage is very high between high voltage (eg, over 1kV, over 3kV, or over 5kV) and low voltage (eg, 0V). Quickly (eg, within 10 ms, or 1 ms or 100 ps, or 10 ps or less), ie, as much as 105 V / s or more, 10 ^{6 V} / s or more, 10 ⁷ V / s or more, or ¹⁰⁸ V / s or more. It is advantageous to be able to fluctuate at high speeds. The control electrodes, and the dielectric between them, form the load capacitance of the applied DC voltage, so that the control voltage source in this short time has a maximum voltage range (eg, 0V to 5kV, or vice versa. ), It is preferable to be able to charge or discharge the load capacity.

Similarly, piezo actuators can be used in applications such as high speed switching. Acceleration of 10,000 g or more can be achieved if the applied driver voltage can be varied sufficiently quickly. Therefore, the driver voltage may be required to fluctuate over a large voltage range (eg, 1 kV or more) over a very short time (eg, 1 ms or less, 0.1 ms or less, or 0.01 ms or less).

The capacitance of the capacitive load, such as that provided by the piezo actuator or by the dielectric between the control electrodes of the variable power capacitors mentioned above, can be, for example, about 10 pF to 100 nF, or more than 100 nF. When the charge / discharge time is very short, charging and discharging such a capacitive load with a large voltage range is a difficult task. The problem is exacerbated by the loss factor in the control voltage generator circuit configuration. In applications such as high speed variable capacitors for plasma generation or the piezo actuators described above, it is advantageous to be able to fluctuate the output voltage not only very quickly but also with high precision.

Therefore, it has become clear that there is a need for a fast variable high voltage source capable of generating a rapidly changing output voltage from a sufficient steady-state input voltage without compromising accuracy and efficiency.

Advanced Technology An uncontrolled LLC converter is controlled by a pulse width modulated backboost converter and feedback from the output voltage of the LLC converter is used to adjust the input voltage of the LLC converter, resulting in an input voltage of 140V. Therefore, a two-stage power converter maintained at a constant voltage such as 400 V is known by US Patent Publication No. 2011090717. Since the circuit needs to operate at 2500 W, for example, the circuit is designed to provide as efficient and smooth power as possible with constant input and output voltages and energy transfer between inputs and outputs. The circuit described in US Patent Publication No. 2011090717 is a large, rugged circuit with dimensional components that continue to operate at the specified high operating power ratings, as defined in the applications described above. However, with a slight net power consumption (ie, very high power efficiency), it would not be suitable to generate a variable output voltage from 0V to, for example, 5kV or higher quickly and accurately. In particular, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011090717 will not be able to generate an output voltage range that includes very low voltages close to 0V.

Therefore, it is precisely controllable and high voltage in low loss circuits that can be implemented in a physically small size and can supply output voltages ranging from very high to very low voltages. Therefore, a DC voltage supply source capable of providing a DC voltage capable of fluctuating at a high speed is required.

An object of the present invention is to overcome at least some of the above drawbacks of prior art variable control voltage generation circuits. Therefore, the variable voltage generator circuit according to the present invention is described in claim 1, the variable capacitor according to the present invention is described in claim 11, and the method according to the present invention is described in claim 12. A variant of the circuit and method of the present invention is set forth in claims 2 to 10 and 13 to 15 which are dependent claims.

A bidirectional DC-DC converter is used to fluctuate the output voltage by fluctuating its voltage amplification factor while keeping the input voltage substantially stable. The input capacitor provides a reservoir of charge that can be used to charge the capacitive load when the control input signal decides to increase the output voltage, and when the output voltage is reduced, the load capacitance is input. It is discharged back to the capacitor. Therefore, the charge is charged to charge and discharge the load capacitance as needed for a particular application (eg, the dielectric between the control electrodes of a variable power capacitor used to power the plasma chamber). , Is transmitted back and forth. Therefore, whenever the output voltage is reduced, most of the electrical energy is recovered and the overall loss of the circuit is low. This means that the circuit can be implemented with relatively small components, and control input signals can be used to accurately and quickly set the values to generate the desired instantaneous output voltage. Means. Further, the amplified output voltage follows the control input signal without requiring further control input such as feedback from the output voltage. Under the control of the steering signal (which can be the pulse width modulation signal applied to the switching control of the backboost converter), it changes in magnitude and direction very quickly, allowing current to flow through the circuit. This allows the circuit to move charge between the upstream input capacitance and the downstream load capacitance with little loss, so that the overall power consumption of the voltage supply circuit is substantially limited to loss only. Will be done. Instantaneous power transfer in a circuit can sometimes be large, especially during large, fast output voltage amplitudes, but large current values are temporary and the components of the circuit are very modest. It is only required to have dimensions for overall power transmission. Since the variable capacitor (or piezo actuator) draws very little (eg, near zero) net power, the total net power transfer through the voltage supply circuit is very small, or near zero. The components of the input circuit, also referred to as the top-up circuit, provide sufficient power for this net power requirement and compensate for the loss incurred due to the reciprocating current between the upstream and downstream capacities. It is only required to have the correct dimensions.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a schematic image which shows the variable capacitor which has a control voltage applied to a constant dielectric dielectric. The control voltage generator circuit for the control electrode of the capacitor of FIG. 1 according to the present invention is shown schematically. A variant of the exemplary circuit of FIG. 2 is shown. An exemplary embodiment of the control voltage generator circuit of FIG. 3 according to the present invention is shown. An exemplary embodiment of the control voltage generator circuit of FIG. 4 is shown in more detail. The exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5 is shown in more detail.

It should be noted that the drawings are provided merely as an aid to understanding the underlying principles of the invention and should not be viewed as limiting the scope of protection sought. The same reference numerals are used in different drawings, which are intended to represent similar or equivalent features. However, it should not be assumed that the use of different reference codes is intended to represent a certain degree of difference between the features they point to.

A variable capacitor 1 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, such as that known by International Application No. 2016603241A1. An exemplary capacitor 1 comprises a block or plate of a dielectric dielectric material 7, two main capacitor electrodes 5, and a capacitor wiring 4. The capacitance of the device can be varied by applying an electric field across the dielectric 7. This can be achieved by connecting the variable voltage source _VC at the connection terminals 2 and 3 to the control electrode 6. By fluctuating the control voltage _VC , the permittivity of a part of the dielectric 7 between the control electrodes 6 fluctuates, and therefore the capacitance of the capacitor 1 between the capacitor electrodes 5 changes.

The ability to change capacitance very quickly is a significant advantage of this type of variable capacitor. This makes the capacitor an application such as plasma generation that requires very sensitive impedance matching that can be achieved by fast tuning of these types of variable capacitors by varying the applied high voltage. Will be useful for. To realize the advantages of high voltage, high speed variable capacitors, a large voltage range can be provided, varying from low or zero voltage to high voltage (eg, 1 kV, 3 kV, 5 kV, or up to 6 kV and above). A suitable control voltage generator circuit that can and has the required high speed is required.

2 to 6 are exemplary voltage supply circuits according to the invention designed to meet the requirements described above for supplying a rapidly variable high voltage for the control electrodes of the variable capacitors described above. The schematic diagram of is shown in various degrees of detail.

Referring to FIG. 2, the input capacitor 12 on the upstream (left) side of the circuit remains charged at the supply voltage V _Cin (voltage at the circuit node 17) by the DC voltage source 11 of _VS via the diode 15. be. The circuit 10 is designed to charge the input capacitor 12 to the voltage _VS when the voltage V _Cin in the capacitor _drops below VS. This "top-up" charge of the input capacitor 12 replenishes the electrical energy lost due to the loss caused by the reciprocating charge between the input capacitor and the load capacitance 1 by the bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit 20. In operation, V _Cin is usually equal to or _slightly higher than _VS , depending on the components of the circuit and application requirements. In particular, _VCin will be greater than _VS when the input capacitor is already _VS and is charged using the charge from load capacitance 1. The input capacitor 12 is advantageously selected to have a sufficiently larger capacitance than that of the load capacitance 1, so that the input capacitor is charged back from the load capacitance even if the _VC suddenly drops significantly. Only a _small increase in V _Cin above VS will be required to charge twelve. The input capacitance 12 has a capacitance value of, for example, preferably at least 50 times, more preferably at least 100 times, more preferably 200 times, or more preferably 500 times the capacitance value of the load capacitance 1. possible. The load capacitance is almost purely capacitive (eg, it can have a reactance of at least 100 times its resistance).

The bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit 20 has a variable voltage amplification factor G controlled by a control input signal 27 from the control unit 25. In the text below, the term voltage conversion factor is considered to refer to the instantaneous voltage amplification provided by the DC-DC converter 20 in the forward direction (ie, upstream to downstream, left to right, input to output). The voltage conversion coefficient in the reverse direction is the same as the forward conversion coefficient, but means the opposite (reciprocity).

The control unit 25 translates the control input 26, which may represent the instantaneous request of the application (eg, plasma chamber), into the control input signal 27 for setting _G , which is an appropriate value for outputting the required output voltage VC. May be needed to do. The control unit 25 stores some detailed application data for mapping the instruction 26 to G, which is an appropriate value for executing the instruction 26 (for example, as an algorithm or in the form of a high-speed look-up table). Things) can be included. As an example in the application of fast variable power capacitors used in impedance matching networks (matchboxes) of RF power supplies for plasma chambers, matchboxes have a first predetermined value to a second significantly different value in capacitor 1. In addition, it may be required to change the capacity suddenly. In order to bring about this change, a specific change in the voltage _VC applied to the control electrode of the variable power capacitor 1 is required. In this example, the control unit calculates and calculates a new value VC required to bring about a new capacitance of the variable capacitor 1 and a value _G required to change the output voltage _VC to this new value. Otherwise it may have data to determine. The required value G is then encoded into the control input signal 27 and used to change the voltage conversion factor of the DC-DC converter. Then, a charge flow occurs between the input capacitor 12 and the load capacitance 1 depending on whether the output voltage _VC increases or decreases.

In the example of the application of the circuit of the present invention for controlling the variable power capacitor 1, the capacitance between the control electrodes 6 is the same as the capacitance between the main electrodes 5 depending on the configuration of the capacitor. May be different.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary variant of the circuit of FIG. In this variant, the variable bidirectional DC-DC converter 20 is both bidirectional and is mounted as two converter stages 28 and 30 that together perform the same function as the DC-DC converter circuit 20 of FIG. The variable bidirectional DC-DC circuit 28 generates a variable steering voltage with a conversion coefficient g determined by the control input signal 27. The constant bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit 30 has a constant voltage conversion coefficient K, where g × K is equal to the coefficient G of the circuit of FIG. As can be seen in the detailed exemplary description below, there is the practical advantage of separating the functions of the variable gain step (28) and the main amplification step (30).

The control unit 25, which is not shown in FIGS. 4-6, may be present to operate at least some of the switching units or switchable components in the detailed circuits of FIGS. 4-6. is assumed. The control unit controls, for example, the switching component of the back boost converter 28. Switching of an LLC converter preferably does not require variable or programmed control, as the LLC converter preferably operates in a nearly constant switching regime.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of the circuit of FIG. In this example, the back boost converter 28 including the switching members 21 and 22, the inductor 23, and the capacitor 24 is responsible for generating the steering _voltage VP at the circuit node 29. The steering _{voltage VP} is set by varying the switching duty cycle of the switching members 21 and 22 under the control of a control input signal (not shown). The instantaneous value of _{VP can be considered to be proportional to VCin multiplied} by the "on" ratio of the duty cycle of the upper switching means 21. The term backboost converter is meant herein to act as a _{backconverter} (reducing voltage V _Cin to VP) in the forward direction and as a boost converter (amplifying _voltage VP to V _Cin ) in the reverse direction. Used in. The steering voltage _{VP can be varied from a low or near zero value to a high value, near VCin ,} if required for a particular application. _{The minimum V P (} min) is preferably less than 25% of V _Cin , more preferably less than 10% of V _Cin . The maximum V _P (max) is preferably _greater than 75% of V _Cin , more preferably greater than 90% of V _Cin .

The variable capacitor 1 described above usually has a maximum capacitance value thereof, for example, when the control voltage _VC is zero. In this case, it is advantageous to be able to reduce the _VP , thereby VC, to _0V in order to maximize the available capacitance value of the variable capacitor 1. A single backboost converter circuit 28 is shown in FIGS. 4-6. However, two or more such circuits could be connected in parallel to distribute power across multiple interleaved slices and to reduce the amount of ripple or fluctuation at the _VP value. The values of the inductor 23 and the capacitor 24 are preferably small to allow high speed operation (eg, 150 kHz or higher), so that the capacitor 24 does not provide a significant smoothing function. In addition, in an exemplary application (eg, variable capacitor 1), a constant DC-DC converter (shown by block 30 in FIGS. 3-6) can have a voltage amplification factor of 10 or greater, in this case. _Ripple at VP can be _magnified 10 times at VC. Interleaving multiple _backboost converter circuit slices can help mitigate such ripples at the output VC.

The bidirectional DC-DC converter 30 has a substantially constant switching resume and predetermined voltage amplification characteristics, and operates in a mode in which the converter is synchronously and softly switched at or near the resonance frequency of FIGS. 5 and 5. It can be implemented as a bidirectional synchronous resonant LLC converter as shown in FIG. The amplification characteristics can be nearly linear or non-linear, but the transfer function should preferably be stable or predictable. The downstream voltage VC of the DC-DC converter 30 does not need to be used as a control parameter for controlling the _backboost converter 28, as described below.

The control voltage generator circuit shown in FIGS. 4-5 is controlled by one or more control units (not shown) that may be implemented in hardware and / or software. Apart from the control unit that provides the switching signal for the bidirectional DC-DC converter 30, the control unit provides the bidirectional (backboost) converter circuit 28 with a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal. The control unit that provides the backboost control signal may calculate the PWM duty ratio based on the parameters of a particular application that uses the control voltage generator circuit. In the case of the variable capacitor 1 used in the dynamic impedance matching device and described above, for example, the control unit of the impedance matching device may issue a capacitance value parameter command for the capacitor 1. The pre-obtained performance information of the capacitors 1 and the control voltage circuit members 28 and 30 can be used to calculate the backboost control signal, which takes into account different operating conditions (eg, temperature) as a result. , Will be the required capacitance value of capacitor 1. For piezo actuators, based on pre-obtained performance information that maps PWM duty cycle values to the obtained physical behavior of the actuator under different operating conditions (eg temperature, humidity, physical load type, etc.) A similar control path can be implemented in that a backboost control signal can be calculated.

The switching member is shown in various ways in FIGS. 4 to 6 as a switch represented by a symbol or a silicon-based MOSFET transistor. Depending on the particular application and embodiment, the member represented as a switch may be, for example, MOSFETs or gallium nitride (GaN) transistors or silicon carbide (SiC) transistors when actively switching, or with other switching components. When operating synchronously, it can be implemented as a diode or diode-connected transistor. For example, in the DC-DC converter 30 shown in FIG. 6, the upstream rectifier circuit (shown as transistors 36, 37, 38, 39) includes a simple diode or a diode-connected transistor, while the downstream rectifier circuit switches softly. Can be configured to include transistors 34 and 35 to be used. In this case, due to the slave arrangement, the upstream rectifier circuit follows the switching of the downstream circuit in synchronization.

As described above, the DC-DC converter circuit 30 can operate advantageously in synchronization, preferably at a constant operating (switching) frequency. The bidirectional converter circuit 28 may also be configured to operate at a substantially constant switching frequency. This frequency may be different from the operating frequency of the DC-DC converter circuit 30, and may be selected to be the same as the operating frequency of the DC-DC converter circuit 30. The latter variant has the advantage of reducing ripple in the VP, in which case the capacitor 24 is completely unnecessary as energy can be synchronously reciprocated between the input capacitor 12 and the load capacitor 1. Not or only needed as a small component.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of an input circuit 10 that uses a power factor improvement (PFC) circuit that generates a constant supply voltage _VS from a range of input voltages applied to the input 16. It is advantageous that the output capacitor 12 of the PFC (10) is a large capacitor capable of accumulating large charges reciprocating through the circuit during dynamic operation when the output voltage _VC changes significantly. Can be. Such capacitors could include, for example, electrolyte and / and special foil capacitors. The input circuit 10 may be constructed using components having a power rating sufficiently lower than that required to deliver the total amount of power delivered to the load capacitance 1. The power rating of the input circuit 10 can be, for example, less than 15% of the quantity (C × f × U ² ), where C is the load capacitance, f is the operating frequency of the converter circuit 20, and U is the converter circuit 20. Maximum permissible voltage amplitude within one switching cycle.

Examples In general, when used in an exemplary application of variable capacitors, various operating parameters can be, for example, in the following range.
AC input voltage: 80V to 400Vrms (corresponds to normal main power output voltage all over the world)
VS: 100V- _600V
VP : 0V to _VS
Load capacity: 5 nF or more, 50 nF or more, or 500 nF or more

The operating parameters in the case of a matched network for fast plasma ignition where the voltage changes significantly at the start of processing are, for example,
AC input voltage to 16: 90-265Vrms
VS: _425V DC
_VP : 0V to _VS
VC: 0V to 5kV or more Charge / discharge time of control electrode capacity: less than 10ms, less than 1ms, or less than _0.1ms Capacitor bias voltage difference: 0 to 2kV or more, 0 to 4kV or more, or 0 to 6kV or more Load Capacity: 5 nF or more, 50 nF or more, or 500 nF or more.

The operating parameters for a matched network optimized for RF power pulsing for the plasma chamber are, for example,
AC input voltage to 16: 90-265Vrms
VS: _425V DC
_VP : 0V to _VS
VC: 0V to 1kV or more, or _3kV or more, or 5kV or more Charging / discharging time of control electrode capacity: less than 10ms, less than 1ms, less than 0.1ms, or less than _0.01ms VC switching frequency: 1 kHz or more, Periodic capacitor bias voltage difference between low and high RF power levels of 10 kHz or higher, 100 kHz or higher: 0 to 0.5 kV or higher, or 0 to 2 kV or higher, or 0 to 4 kV or higher Load capacity: 5 nF or higher, or 50 nF or higher, or 500 nF. That could be the above.

For high speed piezo actuators, the operating parameters are, for example,
AC input voltage to 16: 90-265Vrms
VS: _425V DC
_VP : 0V to _VS
VC: 0V to 1kV or more Charge / discharge time of control electrode capacity: less than 10ms, less than 1ms, less than _0.1ms , or less than 0.01ms Actuator frequency: 100Hz or more, 1kHz or more, 10kHz or more, 100kHz or more. obtain.

The control voltage generator circuit of the present invention has been described above with respect to two exemplary applications of capacitor 1 and piezo actuator. However, these are just two examples of possible applications. The circuit can be used in other applications, especially those that require high efficiency (low net power consumption), high voltage, and fast control response and high speed operation.

Claims (13)

It is a variable voltage generator circuit for generating a variable output voltage _VC according to a voltage control input signal for output to a variable power capacitor which is substantially pure capacitance.
With an input capacitor
A bidirectional DC _- DC converter circuit configured to convert the voltage V _Cin in the input capacitor to the output voltage VC in the variable power capacitor , or vice versa, and to convert the voltage control input signal. The DC-DC converter circuit having a variable voltage conversion coefficient G by varying,
Equipped with
Within a time of less than 10 ms, the DC-DC converter circuit
When G> _VC / V _Cin , the variable power capacitor is charged so that substantially all the electric energy of the input capacitor is supplied by discharging for charging the variable power capacitor . , Discharge the input capacitor,
When _G < VC / V _Cin , the variable power capacitor is discharged so that substantially all the electric energy of the variable power capacitor is supplied by discharging for charging the input capacitor. , Can operate to charge the input capacitor ,
Charging the variable power capacitor and discharging the input capacitor includes charging the variable power capacitor and discharging the input capacitor until G = _VC / V _Cin .
Discharging the variable power capacitor and charging the input capacitor includes discharging the variable power capacitor and charging the input capacitor until G = _VC / V _Cin .
The DC-DC converter circuit includes a first bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit having a variable voltage conversion coefficient g and a second bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit having a fixed voltage conversion coefficient K.
The first bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit comprises a back boost converter circuit and / or the second bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit comprises a bidirectional resonant LLC converter.
The voltage control input signal is a pulse width modulation signal applied to the switching means of the back boost converter circuit, and the switching means is a voltage V _Cin in the input capacitor via an inductor under the control of the control unit. The pulse width between and the other capacitor is connected to provide a modulated voltage conversion, so that the voltage VP across the other capacitor varies the pulse width ratio of the _voltage control input signal. Therefore, it is substantially variable between zero volt and the voltage V _Cin in the input capacitor.
The variable voltage conversion factor G is the instantaneous voltage amplification provided by the DC-DC converter circuit in the forward direction.
A variable voltage generator circuit, characterized in that G = g × K is satisfied . It comprises a top-up circuit configured to supply electrical energy and charge the input capacitor in order to compensate for the loss in the DC-DC converter circuit and the loss in charging and discharging the variable power capacitor . The variable voltage generator circuit according to claim 1 . The variable voltage generation according to claim 1 , wherein the LLC converter includes an upstream rectifier circuit and a downstream rectifier circuit , and the upstream rectifier circuit and the downstream rectifier circuit are arranged to operate in synchronization with each other. Instrument circuit. The downstream rectifier circuit includes a transistor connected in parallel to the variable power capacitor and actively soft-switched by an LLC switching control signal, and the upstream rectifier circuit is a diode connected in a slave rectification arrangement. The variable voltage generator circuit according to claim 3 , further comprising a diode-connected transistor. The variable voltage generator circuit according to any one of claims 1, 3 and 4 , wherein the back boost converter circuit includes a plurality of back boost converter circuits connected in parallel for interleaved operation. The variable voltage generator according to claim 2 , wherein the top-up circuit includes a power factor improving circuit configured to charge the input capacitor at a rate of compensating for the loss in the DC-DC converter circuit. circuit. The variable voltage generator circuit according to any one of claims 1, 3 to 5 , wherein the inductor and the other capacitor of the back boost converter circuit have an LC time constant of less than 10 ms. The variable voltage generator circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the LLC converter has a resonance frequency of more than 106 kHz. Due to the output to the variable power capacitor, which is substantially pure capacitance, and the variable power capacitor, the output voltage V is variable according to the voltage control input signal. _C A system that includes a variable voltage generator circuit for generating
The variable voltage generator circuit is
With an input capacitor
Voltage V in the input capacitor _Cin The output voltage V in the variable power capacitor _C A bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit configured to convert to or vice versa, the DC-DC converter circuit having a variable voltage conversion coefficient G by varying the voltage control input signal. When,
Equipped with
Within a time of less than 10 ms, the DC-DC converter circuit
G> V _C / V _Cin At this time, for charging the variable power capacitor, the variable power capacitor is charged and the input capacitor is discharged so that substantially all the electric energy of the input capacitor is supplied by discharging.
G <V _C / V _Cin At this time, for charging the input capacitor, the variable power capacitor is discharged and the input capacitor is charged so that substantially all the electric energy of the variable power capacitor is supplied by discharging. It is operational and
Charging the variable power capacitor and discharging the input capacitor is G = V. _C / V _Cin Including charging the variable power capacitor and discharging the input capacitor until
Discharging the variable power capacitor and charging the input capacitor is G = V. _C / V _Cin Including discharging the variable power capacitor and charging the input capacitor until
The DC-DC converter circuit includes a first bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit having a variable voltage conversion coefficient g and a second bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit having a fixed voltage conversion coefficient K.
The first bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit comprises a back boost converter circuit and / or the second bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit comprises a bidirectional resonant LLC converter.
The voltage control input signal is a pulse width modulation signal applied to the switching means of the back boost converter circuit, and the switching means is a voltage V in the input capacitor via an inductor under the control of the control unit. _Cin The pulse width between and another capacitor is connected to provide a modulated voltage conversion, resulting in a voltage V that spans another capacitor. _P However, by varying the pulse width ratio of the voltage control input signal, the voltage V at substantially zero volt and the input capacitor _Cin Variable between and
The variable voltage conversion factor G is the instantaneous voltage amplification provided by the DC-DC converter circuit in the forward direction.
A system characterized by satisfying G = g × K. _A method in which the output voltage VC applied to a variable power capacitor, which is substantially pure capacitive, is varied so that the net amount of electrical energy delivered to the load is virtually zero. The voltage conversion coefficient G of the variable bidirectional DC _- DC converter circuit connected between the input capacitor and the variable power capacitor is converted from the voltage VC in the input capacitor to the output voltage _VC in the variable power capacitor . Including varying to convert to or vice versa,
The DC-DC converter circuit includes a first bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit having a variable voltage conversion coefficient g and a second bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit having a fixed voltage conversion coefficient K.
The first bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit comprises a back boost converter circuit and / or the second bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit comprises a bidirectional resonant LLC converter.
The voltage control input signal is a pulse width modulation signal applied to the switching means of the back boost converter circuit, and the switching means has a voltage V _Cin in the input capacitor via an inductor under the control of the control unit. The pulse width between the other capacitors is connected to provide a modulated voltage conversion, so that the voltage VP across the other capacitors varies the pulse width ratio of the _voltage control input signal. , Substantially variable between zero volt and the voltage V _Cin at the input capacitor.
The method comprises the following steps:
When G> _VC / V _Cin , the variable power capacitor is charged so that substantially all the electric energy of the input capacitor is supplied by discharging for charging the variable power capacitor . The DC-DC converter circuit is operated within 10 ms so as to discharge the input capacitor.
When G < _VC / V _Cin , the input capacitor is charged so that substantially all the electric energy of the variable power capacitor is supplied by discharging for charging the input capacitor. Including operating the DC-DC converter circuit within less than 10 ms to discharge the variable power capacitor .
Charging the variable power capacitor and discharging the input capacitor includes charging the variable power capacitor and discharging the input capacitor until G = _VC / V _Cin .
Discharging the variable power capacitor and charging the input capacitor includes discharging the variable power capacitor and charging the input capacitor until G = _VC / V _Cin .
The variable voltage conversion factor G is the instantaneous voltage amplification provided by the DC-DC converter circuit in the forward direction.
A method characterized by satisfying G = g × K. _A method of controlling the capacitance of the variable power capacitor by using the method according to claim 10 in order to change the dielectric constant control voltage VC of the variable power capacitor. Fluctuation of the voltage Vp is a control signal so as to control the voltage conversion coefficient G of the back boost converter circuit in the variable voltage generator circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . 11. The method of claim 11 , comprising varying the pulse width ratio. An AC supply voltage in the range of 90 Vrms to 365 Vrms applied to an input connected in parallel to the variable power capacitor .
DC supply voltage _VS , in the range of 100V to 600V applied to the input capacitor .
_A claim comprising operating the variable voltage generator circuit with a permittivity control voltage VC of at least 1 kV applied to the variable power capacitor and a charge / discharge time of the variable power capacitor of less than 10 ms. Item 12. The method according to Item 12.

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